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Our intention is to inform people of racist, homophobic, religious extreme hate speech perpetrators across social networking internet sites. And we also aim to be a focal point for people to access information and resources to report such perpetrators to appropriate web sites, governmental departments and law enforcement agencies around the world.

We will also post relevant news worthy items and information on Human rights issues, racism, extremist individuals and groups and far right political parties from around the world although predominantly Britain.

Friday, 8 July 2011

An Italian court on Thursday handed down life sentences to nine elderly Germans for having killed more than 160 civilians in northern and central Italy during World War II.

The nine former Nazi soldiers, all in their 80s and 90s, were sentenced in absentia by a court in Verona Tuesday night after a seven-month trial. They had been charged with killing 140 civilians in the Modena region in 1944 and also for massacres of dozens of others carried out in Tuscany and Emilia Romagna regions.

The nine men had been German officers and soldiers attached to a parachute division charged with quashing Italian resistance to German occupation.

"At last there is justice for the victims and their relatives and a bloody page of history can be closed," one of the plaintiffs told the Corriere della Sera newspaper.

Newbury Town Council has been accused of racism after publishing statements on travellers “worthy of the British National Party (BNP).”

The offending paragraphs appeared in an appendix to a report on planning for traveller sites prepared for Monday night’s the planning and highways committee meeting.
They were initially published on the council website but were removed when the storm broke.

They stated: "We do not believe that travellers should be treated as a separate ethnic group or that policy towards them should be governed by such considerations. Because of the undesirable effects of the travelling way of life on receipt of social services, especially education, we do not consider that travelling in the sense used in this paper can be sustained in the long run.

“It is gradually disappearing and that trend should not be discouraged. We obviously agree on the measures to prevent abuse of the planning system by travellers.”

The comments were condemned by the general secretary of West Berkshire Minority Ethnic Forum, Ruwan Uduwerage-Perera who pointed out: “Roma, Romany Gypsies and Irish travellers are now all recognised to have protection under the Race Relations Act as they have been finally recognised as minority ethnic communities in law.

“The intolerance shown towards these communities is still very obvious, and is even enshrined within some of the policies and procedures of our public authorities. Are these somewhat limiting and discriminatory views the opinions of the town council as a whole, or merely a few individuals? Whichever. it is very concerning.”

Local Labour Party spokesman Richard Garvie said he interpreted the words to mean that travellers should not have equal access to health and education services and branded the comments “worthy of the BNP.”

The wording of the report also sparked a heated debate on the forum at our website, Newburytoday.co.uk ahead of Monday night’s meeting.

Before the meeting began, Anthony Pick (Con, St Johns) revealed that he was the author of the offending report and added: “I apologise for any offence which my remarks may have caused and I withdraw them without reservation.”

Committee vice chairman Adrian Edwards (Con, Falkland) spoke next, saying he was responsible for submitting the report to committee and adding: “I would like to apologise that I failed to pick this up.”

Council chief executive Graham Hunt then offered a “full and unqualified” apology, adding that the final responsibility for what was published rested with him.

He pointed out that the offending report had been removed from the website and promised “equality training” would be put in place.

Mr Hunt added: “Newbury Town Council welcomes any initiative which will improve facilities for the travelling community.”

Mr Garvie said afterwards: "For the council to have to issue three apologies at the start of a meeting shows how serious an incident this was.”

In a ruling that may have ripple effects across Europe, the Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that neo-Nazi literature and speech, including that which openly denies the Holocaust, is not a punishable crime. In his June 3 ruling, presiding judge Dr. Adolfo Prego said that while such speech is truly offensive, it is only a crime if advocates violence. “Advocating an ideology is not punishable no matter which ideology is involved,” Judge Prego chided prosecutors in his ruling. The verdict overules a 2009 lower court conviction of four Spanish neo-Nazis, Ramón Bau, Óscar Panadero, Carlos García and Juan Antonio Llopart, who were found guilty of disseminating hate literature.

Panadero owned and operated the now-defunct Kalki bookstore, which openly sold neo-Nazi paraphanelia and literature, including books that denied the Holocaust. Garcia was an employee at the store, while Bau and Llopart ran organizations that promoted National Socialist ideology. Judge Prego noted that he himself was offended by the neo-Nazi literature, but could not let the conviction stand as this would open the door to random prosecution of any opinion expressed. As a result of the Supreme Court ruling, the four men were aquitted of their prison terms, which ranged from 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 years.

The Jewish Community Federation of Spain (FCJE) roundly condemned the verdict, reports the World Jewish Congress. “We Jews are very worried that the Spanish judiciary, which in certain situations shows a lot of sensitivity, does not consider the sale of books in which the Holocaust is denied and racism propagated an offense banned by our laws,” the group said in a press statement. The Israeli Embassy in Madrid said in a statement, “Israel believes that this decision gives support to racist violence and shows a lack of historic knowledge.” It added that the ruling was reason for “sadness and concern.”

The European Union’s Framework decision on Racism and Xenophobia, released in 2007, states that denying or grossly trivialising “crimes of genocide” should be made “punishable in all EU Member States.” While other EU member states have already adopted either parts or the entire framework into their laws, Spain has not complied.

There has been progress, not least the stand residents took against the EDL last year, but threats from the far right remain.

Ten years ago today Bradford witnessed race riots that lasted three days and brought the issue of race relations in the city to the country's attention. Bradford became known as a "racial tinderbox" where the city's large Asian community was estranged and at odds with the white working class.

You could see the troubles coming as rioting spread across the north from towns on the other side of the Pennines such as Burnley and Oldham. There were the largely forgotten riots of 1995, which should have acted as a warning signal. After those disturbances, Asian residents complained about a lack of opportunities and growing unease about relationships with the police and the white working class. Those calls were mostly ignored, the National Front took advantage and six years later tensions boiled over again.

I was a 17-year-old student at the time, and like many people in the city was shocked to see Manningham turned into a battleground. I remember picking up the Telegraph and Argus and seeing the faces of young men I'd played against in a football semi-final a few months earlier on the front page as wanted troublemakers. Harsh sentences followed for the Asian offenders and the city woke up to the fact that it had been sleepwalking into segregation for more than 30 years.

There was a definite change in the city as the initial shock of the riots turned to disgust and even hatred as people surveyed what "they" had done to "our" city. The fallout continued with the BNP gaining council seats in predominantly white areas like Queensbury and Keighley as far-right groups took advantage of the troubles to reinforce the "them and us" attitude. Lord Ouseley's report and the Cantle report followed and laid out the drastic action that needed to be taken to counteract the effects of segregation in the city and others like it.

But the anniversary of the riots isn't the best indicator of how far the city has come when dealing with race relations. That date came on 28 August 2010 when the English Defence League (EDL) brought 700 supporters to the city. The event had been talked about for months and when the static protest started the group faced opposition from a wide range of residents. It was a display of unity which largely went unreported, the focus instead being on the EDL's clashes with the police. It was the toughest test Bradford's communities had faced since 2001 and people from all over the city made sure no one group was left to stand up to the far right alone.

The BNP is no longer represented on the council and now Bradfordians are focused on new challenges such as the lack of development in the city centre, which literally left a hole in the heart of the city, and fewer job opportunities after the area's financial services industry was hit by the economic downturn. When Chris Morris chose the city's 16th International Film Festival as the place to premier his controversial film Four Lions, which was about a British group of suicide bombers, I was delighted to see someone like Morris in the city. But even more delighted that there wasn't trouble after the premier, especially considering one of the 7/7 bombers, Shehzad Tanweer, was born in Bradford. It showed me that perhaps now Bradfordians of all races are able to examine even the most uncomfortable aspects of life in the city.

Bradford still faces challenges when it comes to relations between different communities. The white flight that occurred in areas like Manningham is being repeated, this time with Asian middle-class families moving out to areas like Heaton and eastern European migrants taking their place. The school system is still a source of segregation, with many containing a majority of pupils from either white or Asian backgrounds. But progress is being made with exchange programmes and a greater awareness of how without early integration a "them and us" attitude can develop.

Many in the city are happy about the progress that has been made but as the far right regroup again in the form of the EDL, Bradfordians are well aware that their unity will be tested again and so will the city's race relations.

Far-right street protest group the English Defence League is to march through Plymouth on Saturday as part of its campaign against what it calls the spread of Islamic extremism in Britain.

A counter-march has been organised by Unison, Unite Against Facism (UAF) and the Trades Union Council.

The EDL march will start in Exeter Street at 1pm, there will be speeches in the city centre at 2pm and a march back to Exeter Street at 3pm.

A statement on EDL Plymouth's Facebook posting for the event reads: "Above all the English Defence League will be attending Plymouth to hold a peaceful protest anyone causing trouble or making racist remarks will be removed from the demo and is likely to be arrested."

The counter-event will start with a rally at the Jigsaw Garden near Drake Circus at 12pm and there will be a march at 1pm.

Devon and Cornwall Police are planning to deploy officers in the city centre during the events.

Police are readying themselves for the potentially explosive rallies with ‘significant resources’ available.

But they added that protesters have said they would hold peaceful demonstrations.

“It’s important that we plan for every eventuality,” said Superintendent Craig Downham.

“We’re expecting large numbers of people in the city centre and Barbican areas and protesters have stated that it is their intention to hold a peaceful assembly, however, we will have significant police resources available to deal with any situation which presents itself, in a fair, proportionate and impartial way.”

He added that the police and local authority do not have powers to ban the protests and respect everyone’s democratic right to participate in peaceful protest.

But the Force is asking the community to be vigilant and inform the police immediately of any incidents.

“Devon and Cornwall Police is experienced in policing large events and our commitment is to protect the communities we serve and keep the peace, while facilitating peaceful and lawful protests,” he said.

“We want to reassure people that the city centre is still open for business. The two march routes have been negotiated in such a way that there’s less of a chance of disorder but we are there in large numbers should we need to use our powers to deal with anyone who is getting out of hand.”

The EDL have been leafleting around the city centre ahead of their rally with pamphlets saying “peaceful protest in Plymouth” and “defend our culture”.

UAF said that a unity statement has been signed by local politicians and trade unionists in opposition to the EDL protest.

To highlight this they are organising a multicultural We Are Plymouth demonstration.

Kevin Treweeks, equalities officer, city of Plymouth branch UNISON, added that the group is also planning an afternoon of multi-cultural entertainment following the rally.

The EDL formed in Luton in 2009 in response to protests by Islamic groups.

Events by EDL in other cities have sometimes seen a number of arrests, violent clashes with the UAF and other groups and criminal damage.

Between 1,500 and 2,000 demonstrators marched through Newcastle in May 2010 - from both the EDL and UAF.